On the 14th of June, 2022 The Union Government took a historic decision of approving the recruitment of the Indian youths to serve in The Armed Forces. The decision was taken by the government of India and this new scheme is called the Agneepath (Agnipath) scheme. The youth selected under the Agneepath scheme will be called Agniveers. Though, the introduction of this scheme has been criticized in many levels especially in the lack of consultation and private debate. This scheme is going to come into effect from the month of September, 2022.

This scheme doesn’t have many things which was present in the previous systems; like the inclusion of pension and long tenures. Opposition parties in India have condemned and conveyed concerns about the ramifications of the new scheme. Due to this scheme the Army aspirants in several parts of India erupted with a violent protest by damaging the public property on the 16th of June, 2022. On the following day, around 12 trains were set on fire affecting the movement of 300 trains. Around 214 trains were cancelled, 12 trains were diverted from their line and 90 were terminated short of their destination. Also, on that very day protesters attacked the house of the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Renu Devi. The mobs of young protesters went on a rampage and set fire to trains and other public property after which the Bihar government ordered internet shutdowns in 18 districts of Bihar. More than 325 people were arrested in the state and 250 in Uttar Pradesh.

The Agneepath scheme is basically a recruiting process where the Armed Forces will be recruiting 46,000 Agniveers this year through Agnipath/Agneepath scheme. Agniveers will go to the society as a disciplined, dynamic, motivated, and skilled workforce for employment in other sectors. From the year 2019, there wasn’t any recruitment in the armed forces for three years. The Indian Government cited COVID-19 pandemic in India because of this. And as the old soldiers started to retire there was a shortage of man power in the forces and that’s why this scheme is adopted. The Agneepath scheme 2022 will be done for a period of four years and during these four years the recruits will be trained rigorously so that they are fit to join the force. According to the Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar women can also be a part of this scheme and will be inducted in the Armed Forces. The main goal of the Agneepath scheme is to train and deploy fitter, younger troops on the front line during a war. It is said to be a game-changing project that will give the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force a young image. The Agniveers, the youth selected under the Agneepath scheme in the age group of 17.5 years to 23 years who favour patriotism, teamwork and physical fitness can apply through Agneepath Yojna. Agniveers will be offered a chance to apply for permanent enrolment in the Armed Forces. After retiring, around 25% of the total batch strength will be selected for the permanent cadre. Personnel who retire after 4 years of service will not be eligible for pension, but will receive a lump sum amount of approximately ₹11.71 lakh at the end of tenure. The Government of India is planning to recruit 45,000 to 50,000 new personnel every year through this scheme.

The Broad Objectives of Agneepath Schemes are:

• To guzzle the Armed Forces ethos, courage, commitment and teamwork in the youth.
• To provide the proper abilities and the qualities such as discipline, motivation, dynamism so that the youth remains a proper asset.
• Provide an opportunity for the youth who are very much eager to serve the country in the uniform of a soldier.
• To enhance the profile of the Armed Forces by incorporating some of the best soldiers who can be in the front line and be a major asset during the war.

The Agneepath Yojna through which the youths would register themselves under the training course has a fixed salary of 4.76 lakh per annum in the first year which further increases to 6.92 lakh per annum by the final year of training. Although a small part of the salary received by the Agniveers, goes into funds like the Agniveer Corpus Fund and the corpus fund by Gol.

However, after all services provided by the scheme, the major drawback is no pension and a very short tenure of service. Before the initiation of the new scheme for recruitment, the Government of Indian did not produce any white paper. The scheme was neither debated in the parliament nor in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. No information about the scheme was given to the public prior to its announcement.

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